(Quick Transmigration) Even If You Become an Animal, You Still Have to Serve an Iron Rice Bowl - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: 

The red-haired man was taken straight back to the station for questioning.

Shen Qiu followed them inside, squatting on the table and fixedly staring at him.

Under the cat’s unblinking eyes, the redhead grew uneasy. He was terrified that if the cat got upset, it would pounce on him for another beating. 

Hunching his shoulders, he tried to bargain with Qin Yan.

“C-could you remove the cat…I-I’m scared.”

Qin Yan’s brows furrowed, and he slapped the table.

“This is a police station, not a place for you to make demands.”

He pointed at Shen Qiu.

“This is a police cat, with an official position. As long as you don’t try to escape, he won’t attack you.”

Redhead: …

He covered his injured eye, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears.

“Alright, enough nonsense. Name, age.”

“Zhang Kang, 23.”

Lao San quickly entered it into the computer.

Qin Yan showed him a photo of the deceased. “Do you know this person?”

Zhang Kang’s pupils immediately contracted, but he quickly shook his head, his eyes shifting away. 

 “N-no, I don’t know.”

“Be honest! We found everything hidden in your place. You’ve heard the saying ‘confess and be treated with leniency, resist and be punished severely,’ haven’t you?”

Zhang Kang trembled. When he looked up, he saw the big cat extending its claws, staring at him fiercely while licking his paw. 

He shuddered even harder, looking utterly miserable. 

“D-don’t let the cat attack me! I’ll talk!”

Qin Yan & Lao San: …

Both of them turned their heads. The big cat was innocently grooming its fur, and when he noticed them looking, he wagged its tail ingratiatingly and rubbed against Qin Yan’s arm.

Lao San chuckled.

“Seriousl? You’re scared of a cat? With guts that small, how did you dare mess with that stuff?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Qiu hopped down from the table, seemingly heading straight toward Zhang Kang.

Zhang Kang nearly jumped out of his chair. “I’ll talk! That man’s name is Wang Miao, he’s my childhood friend!”

Shen Qiu smoothly changed direction, crouching on the ground to stretch. 

Lao San shot him an approving look, then continued the interrogation.
“The things in your house, where did they come from?”

Zhang Kang, as if resigned to his fate, slumped in the chair with a numb expression. 

“Wang Miao gave them to me. I don’t know where he got them from and he wouldn’t let me ask.”

“Do you know what Wang Miao’s been doing lately? He’s been missing for ages, and you’re not worried at all?”

Zhang Kang shook his head. “Before he left, Wang Miao told me he was going to do something big. Once it succeeded, we wouldn’t have to live in that cramped rental anymore.”

Shen Qiu’s eyes narrowed in thought.

This “big thing” Wang Miao mentioned must be connected to the new drug. But what exactly was it?

The big cat’s tail swished restlessly behind him, linking the clues together. 

Su Hui was tricked. An unknown new drug…

“Right! Before he left, Wang Miao gave me a phone. He said if someone called, I should answer and cover for him, telling them he was out.”Zhang Kang suddenly blurted out.

Both officers and one cat turned sharply toward him.

“Where’s the phone?!”

Zhang Kang shrank back under their stares, especially with Shen Qiu looking ready to pounce. He gulped nervously.

“It-it’s at my place, under the bed frame.”

Qin Yan exchanged a glance with Lao San, who immediately left to find someone to retrieve it. 

Twenty minutes later, Yang Yue returned holding a clear evidence bag.

“This one?”

Qin Yan held it up for Zhang Kang.

Zhang Kang nodded quickly.

“Yeah, I remember Wang Miao used this phone to chat with his girlfriend a lot.”

Girlfriend? Su Hui?

Shen Qiu frowned.

But Zhang Kang hesitated, then added, “Wang Miao… he had a lot of girlfriends…”

While he spoke, Qin Yan had already opened the phone and pulled up WeChat. The chat history was wiped clean, but the contacts list showed nearly two thousand friends.

Yang Yue gave a low whistle.

“You just said he had a lot of girlfriends?”

Zhang Kang’s eyes darted as he nodded, clearly debating whether to sell out his friend or now. 

Shen Qiu narrowed his eyes again, about to advance towards him.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk! He usually dated ten or more girls at once! But he broke up with them a lot, too! I don’t even know what exactly he was up to. Even though we grew up together, he kept a lot from me!”

Shen Qiu let out a mental exclamation. Ten girlfriends at the same time? That meant Su Hui wasn’t the only victim. This guy was a parasite!

Clearly, Qin Yan and the others realized the same thing. They immediately sent the phone to the tech team.

“Recover all of the chat records as fast as possible!”

After Yang Yue left, they continued interrogating Zhang Kang, but he didn’t know much more. He hadn’t been in the drug world long. At first, Wang Miao had talked to him about a money-making gig.

They had been dirt poor, and in a moment of impulsivity, he agreed.

“Later, I felt like Wang Miao was hiding things from me. He wouldn’t answer my questions so I eventually stopped asking. But I could tell he was getting richer. At night, he’d drag me out to internet cafés before sneaking off somewhere on his own.”

When he finished, he asked cautiously, “Officer, what crime did Wang Miao commit?”

Qin Yan picked up Shen Qiu, paused for a moment, then said, “He’s dead.”

Shock flashed across Zhang Kang’s face.

“You were his childhood friend. You must have his family’s contact information. Once this case is wrapped up, call them to the station.”

Zhang Kang’s eyes widened, his lips trembling. After a long silence, he covered his face in anguish.

“We both came from the same orphanage. A few years ago, it shut down after losing its sponsors. He doesn’t have any family.”

The room fell silent.

After a while, Qin Yan sighed. He told Lao San to get Zhang Kang something to eat, then left with Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu could feel Qin Yan’s heavy mood. Even as police officers, who were used to seeing all sorts of people, cases like this still weighed heavily.

In his past life, whenever Shen Qiu caught kids barely out of school already using drugs, he often thought: if only the police could work harder and keep drugs out of the country completely, maybe fewer lives would be ruined. 

But then, he realized something: the police were only human, not gods. They could do their utmost, but they couldn’t control people’s desires.

Thinking of this, the big cat let out a sigh, swishing his tail against Qin Yan’s back as if to comfort him.

Qin Yan stroked his head, then sent him back to the dorm.

At midnight, Wang Miao’s phone was cracked, and the chat logs were fully restored. Knowing how intelligent Shen Qiu was, Qin Yan even brought him along to the meeting.

On the screen, Wang Miao’s conversations with his girlfriends were projected.

“From the records and background checks, we found that all of the women Wang Miao targeted were young workers who had come to Haishi from out of town.” 

They all shared a similar personality profile. Isolated. Few friends in real life and strained family ties. They only opened up emotionally while online.”

“Wang Miao would infiltrate group chats, add them one by one, and present himself as another loner. Over time, the girls easily fell for his act and agreed to meet him.”

“The more gullible ones, he directly tempted them with drugs right away. For the cautious ones, he used their private photos to blackmail them, forcing them into addiction. Once hooked, they became his cash cows.”

Yang Yue cursed under her breath.

Qin Yan knocked on the table.

“Do we have their contact info? Get in touch with them immediately, test them for drugs, and start rehabilitation.”

Everyone knew it wasn’t so easy. Once you touched that stuff, quitting was almost impossible…

Suddenly, the tech officer shot to his feet.

“Captain! We found Wang Miao’s supplier!”

Everyone perked up. Shen Qiu leapt onto the technician’s lap, eyes staring at the screen.

In Wang Miao’s chats, the supplier went by “Old K,” with a playing-card King of Diamonds as his avatar.  They hadn’t exchanged many messages, only ten.

But those ten revealed something shocking.

Wang Miao had been instructed to test a new drug on those girls.

At that, Shen Qiu’s fur bristled, his back arched as he hissed at the screen.

So Wang Miao had deliberately targeted lonely girls like Su Hui to experiment on them with a new drug!

If not for a kind colleague, Su Hui might have vanished for years before anyone noticed.

“What a vicious scheme!”

Yang Yue ground her teeth. Others swore under their breath.

Qin Yan wasted no time, splitting the team into four squads to track down Wang Miao’s contacts.

Shen Qiu joined the urgent mission, returning only at dawn.

Out of the hundreds of girls Wang Miao had contacted, more than sixty had been coerced into drug use and became his steady buyers. Three were missing.

Shen Qiu feared they’d suffered the same fate as Su Hui.

He sighed heavily, watching as the sky lightened in color, unable to sleep.

He had been a narcotics officer for years and seen countless comrades throw themselves into the front lines. Nameless and selfless, they fought tirelessly, all for the people’s safety.

But there were always those willing to poison others for money.

Those sixty-odd girls were all between twenty-three and twenty-five, the prime of their lives.
They had come to Haishi chasing a better future. Instead, thanks to Wang Miao, they faced a lifetime of addiction.

Shen Qiu’s mood stayed low all day. During training, he nearly slipped off the equipment several times.

The trainer grew worried, thinking he was sick, and wanted to take him to the vet.

Shen Qiu forced himself to perk up, rubbing against the trainer’s arm. 

“Meow~” I’m fine.

The trainer picked him up.

“Are you thinking about Guoguo? Is it unrequited love?”

Shen Qiu: Meow??

He looked around, realizing Guoguo really wasn’t at training today.

Ba Wang looked utterly deflated, lying off to the side and sighing dramatically.

Before he could figure it out, the trainer went on, “Even if you and Guoguo like each other, you’re different species. You can’t be together! Don’t worry, I already sent Guoguo to a matchmaking event. Once she has pups, I’ll apply to pair you up. I’ll make sure you get a beautiful little female cat! You’ll leave behind excellent offspring!”

Shen Qiu: “Meow meow meow?!” Which eye of yours saw me and Guoguo in love? Which eye of yours thinks I want a mate?!

With a jolt, he leapt from the trainer’s arms, suddenly energized again.

Forget it. He was just a cat now. Better to focus on training and catching bad guys.

He crouched, ready to spring into practice.

The trainer smiled and looked very pleased.

“So Qiuqiu really does want a little female cat. Just hearing about it gets him so excited.”

Shen Qiu was about to jump, but nearly fell out of the air when he heard that. Landing awkwardly, he glared at the trainer, teeth clenched.

“Meow meow meow!” No matter what I do, it always comes back to a female cat?! I told you, I don’t want one!

Fuming, he stalked off with his tail lashing angrily. 

The trainer wasn’t the least bit bothered, already plotting on finding him a pretty mate. Police dogs got matchmaking events. Police cats didn’t.

Watching him, Shen Qiu rolled his eyes. He could already guess exactly what he was thinking.

He padded over to sit beside Ba Wang.

Seeing him, Ba Wang sighed gloomily.

“Qiuqiu, you’re sad too, huh? Don’t worry. From now on, we’ll be like real brothers from the same mother. If we want, the trainer can find us better mates!”

He leaned his big head closer, trying to nuzzle Shen Qiu.

Expressionless, Shen Qiu pushed him away. Absolutely not! I don’t want a female dog either!

Ba Wang didn’t believe him. Convinced he was heartbroken over Guoguo, he wrapped his paw around him and wailed consolingly. He kept calling him “Little Brother Qiuqiu” over and over, drooling all over his head.

Shen Qiu finally wriggled free, glaring at the training field.

“Meow meow meow!” I told you, I don’t like Guoguo! Not at all! And if we’re brothers, I’m the older one! If you don’t believe me, let’s compete!

Ba Wang froze. Standing up, he loomed over the little cat, smugly lifting his chin.

“Little Brother Qiuqiu, don’t joke. You look like the younger one.”

That was the last straw. Shen Qiu slapped his paw against the ground. 

“Let’s compete! Otherwise, your “big brother” title is fake!” 

He was seething. Never had he met such a narcissistic mutt!

“Woof!” Fine! Bring it on!

The cat and dog crouched at the starting line. At Shen Qiu’s meow, both of them shot forward like lightning.

By the time the trainer noticed, they were already racing over the obstacle course.

Wherever the dog had to be careful, the cat danced across like it was flat ground.

While Ba Wang was still on the hurdles, Shen Qiu had already reached the finish, sitting upright and flicking his head in triumph.

“Meow~” See? I’m the boss!

Ba Wang arrived, miserable, his doggy face fallen.

The trainer came running over, fuming.

“Who told you to get up there?! Huh?! Without orders, who said you could act on your own?!”

Shen Qiu stayed silent, while Ba Wang lay despondent, mourning his lost crush and lost “big brother” status.

The trainer frowned.

“Ba Wang, was this your idea?!”

“I don’t care whose idea it was. Disobeying orders and acting on your own. One week without snacks! And solitary confinement this afternoon!”

Just then, Qin Yan arrived to take Shen Qiu on a mission.

With Ba Wang’s resentful eyes burning into his back, Shen Qiu sauntered off.

One week’s snacks in exchange for being the big brother? Worth it!

Author’s note:

 Ba Wang: There is only pain in the world. Sad dog noises.jpg

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T/N: Sorry for not being able to upload last week. I went on vacation with my family, and we ended up somewhere without wifi or cellular data. The chapter was also longer, so I wasn’t able to get the chapter finished on the drive over. 

As I said before, I’ll try to upload once a week, but I have a lot of work and events that I need to prioritize. I will do my best, though! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

4.3k characters to 2.3k words | Translation Time: 3 hours